Paging access terminals in a wireless communications system

ABSTRACT

An embodiment is directed to an access network that configures set of paging indicator (PI) bits within a quick paging channel (QPCH) cycle to page a group of access terminals. An access terminal within the group receives the QPCH cycle, and evaluates the PI bits to determine whether a unicast page and/or group page is present. Another embodiment is directed to selecting less than all timeslots in one or more control channel cycles of a downlink control channel, and configuring a page message to convey the selected timeslots to an access terminal. The access terminal receives the configured page message and decodes information only within the selected timeslots. Another embodiment is directed to generating a transport-layer message for transmission to at least one access terminal, and configuring the transport-layer message by modifying an application-layer portion of the transport-layer message. An access terminal receives the message and extracts the application-layer portion.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §119

The present application for patent claims priority to ProvisionalApplication No. 61/168,432 entitled “PAGING ACCESS TERMINALS IN AWIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM”, filed on Apr. 10, 2009, and ProvisionalApplication No. 61/175,638 entitled “PAGING ACCESS TERMINALS IN AWIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM”, filed on May 5, 2009, and each of whichis incorporated herein by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention relates to communications in a wirelesstelecommunication system and, more particularly to paging accessterminals in a wireless communications system.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless communication systems have developed through variousgenerations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service(1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (includinginterim 2.5G and 2.75G networks) and a third-generation (3G) high speeddata/Internet-capable wireless service. There are presently manydifferent types of wireless communication systems in use, includingCellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Examples ofknown cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile PhoneSystem (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access(GSM) variation of TDMA, and newer hybrid digital communication systemsusing both TDMA and CDMA technologies.

The method for providing CDMA mobile communications was standardized inthe United States by the Telecommunications IndustryAssociation/Electronic Industries Association in TIA/EIA/IS-95-Aentitled “Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard forDual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular System,” referred to hereinas IS-95. Combined AMPS & CDMA systems are described in TIA/EIA StandardIS-98. Other communications systems are described in the IMT-2000/UM, orInternational Mobile Telecommunications System 2000/Universal MobileTelecommunications System, standards covering what are referred to aswideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA2000 (such as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO standards, forexample) or TD-SCDMA.

In wireless communication systems, mobile stations, handsets, or accessterminals (AT) receive signals from fixed position base stations (alsoreferred to as cell sites or cells) that support communication links orservice within particular geographic regions adjacent to or surroundingthe base stations. Base stations provide entry points to an accessnetwork (AN)/radio access network (RAN), which is generally a packetdata network using standard Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) basedprotocols that support methods for differentiating traffic based onQuality of Service (QoS) requirements. Therefore, the base stationsgenerally interact with ATs through an over the air interface and withthe AN through Internet Protocol (IP) network data packets.

In wireless telecommunication systems, Push-to-talk (PTT) capabilitiesare becoming popular with service sectors and consumers. PTT can supporta “dispatch” voice service that operates over standard commercialwireless infrastructures, such as CDMA, FDMA, TDMA, GSM, etc. In adispatch model, communication between endpoints (ATs) occurs withinvirtual groups, wherein the voice of one “talker” is transmitted to oneor more “listeners.” A single instance of this type of communication iscommonly referred to as a dispatch call, or simply a PTT call. A PTTcall is an instantiation of a group, which defines the characteristicsof a call. A group in essence is defined by a member list and associatedinformation, such as group name or group identification.

Conventionally, data packets within a wireless communication networkhave been configured to be sent to a single destination or accessterminal. A transmission of data to a single destination is referred toas “unicast”. As mobile communications have increased, the ability totransmit given data concurrently to multiple access terminals has becomemore important. Accordingly, protocols have been adopted to supportconcurrent data transmissions of the same packet or message to multipledestinations or target access terminals. A “broadcast” refers to atransmission of data packets to all destinations or access terminals(e.g., within a given cell, served by a given service provider, etc.),while a “multicast” refers to a transmission of data packets to a givengroup of destinations or access terminals. In an example, the givengroup of destinations or “multicast group” may include more than one andless than all of possible destinations or access terminals (e.g., withina given group, served by a given service provider, etc.). However, it isat least possible in certain situations that the multicast groupcomprises only one access terminal, similar to a unicast, oralternatively that the multicast group comprises all access terminals(e.g., within a cell or sector), similar to a broadcast.

Broadcasts and/or multicasts may be performed within wirelesscommunication systems in a number of ways, such as performing aplurality of sequential unicast operations to accommodate the multicastgroup, allocating a unique broadcast/multicast channel (BCH) forhandling multiple data transmissions at the same time and the like. Aconventional system using a broadcast channel for push-to-talkcommunications is described in United States Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2007/0049314 dated Mar. 1, 2007 and entitled“Push-To-Talk Group Call System Using CDMA 1x-EVDO Cellular Network”,the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. As described in Publication No. 2007/0049314, a broadcastchannel can be used for push-to-talk calls using conventional signalingtechniques. Although the use of a broadcast channel may improvebandwidth requirements over conventional unicast techniques, theconventional signaling of the broadcast channel can still result inadditional overhead and/or delay and may degrade system performance.

The 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project 2 (“3GPP2”) defines abroadcast-multicast service (BCMCS) specification for supportingmulticast communications in CDMA2000 networks. Accordingly, a version of3GPP2's BCMCS specification, entitled “CDMA2000 High RateBroadcast-Multicast Packet Data Air Interface Specification”, dated Feb.14, 2006, Version 1.0 C.S0054-A, is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety.

SUMMARY

An embodiment is directed to an access network that configures set ofpaging indicator (PI) bits within a quick paging channel (QPCH) cycle topage a group of access terminals. An access terminal within the groupreceives the QPCH cycle, and evaluates the PI bits to determine whethera unicast page and/or group page is present. Another embodiment isdirected to selecting less than all timeslots in one or more controlchannel cycles of a downlink control channel, and configuring a pagemessage to convey the selected timeslots to an access terminal. Theaccess terminal receives the configured page message and decodesinformation only within the selected timeslots. Another embodiment isdirected to generating a transport-layer message for transmission to atleast one access terminal, and configuring the transport-layer messageby modifying an application-layer portion of the transport-layermessage. An access terminal receives the message and extracts theapplication-layer portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of embodiments of the invention and many ofthe attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the samebecomes better understood by reference to the following detaileddescription when considered in connection with the accompanying drawingswhich are presented solely for illustration and not limitation of theinvention, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a wireless network architecture that supportsaccess terminals and access networks in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a carrier network according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an access terminal in accordance with atleast one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional process of paging multicast groupmembers for a multicast communication.

FIG. 5 illustrates another conventional process of paging multicastgroup members for a multicast communication.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process of assigning paging indicator bits within aquick paging channel to multicast groups.

FIG. 7 illustrates a process of paging multicast group members for amulticast communication according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a conventional paging process.

FIG. 9 illustrates a paging process according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description andrelated drawings directed to specific embodiments of the invention.Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope ofthe invention. Additionally, well-known elements of the invention willnot be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure therelevant details of the invention.

The words “exemplary” and/or “example” are used herein to mean “servingas an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment describedherein as “exemplary” and/or “example” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Likewise,the term “embodiments of the invention” does not require that allembodiments of the invention include the discussed feature, advantage ormode of operation.

Further, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actionsto be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It willbe recognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequence ofactions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any form of computer readable storage medium having storedtherein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon executionwould cause an associated processor to perform the functionalitydescribed herein. Thus, the various aspects of the invention may beembodied in a number of different forms, all of which have beencontemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Inaddition, for each of the embodiments described herein, thecorresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as,for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

A High Data Rate (HDR) subscriber station, referred to herein as anaccess terminal (AT), may be mobile or stationary, and may communicatewith one or more HDR base stations, referred to herein as modem pooltransceivers (MPTs) or base stations (BS). An access terminal transmitsand receives data packets through one or more modem pool transceivers toan HDR base station controller, referred to as a modem pool controller(MPC), base station controller (BSC) and/or packet control function(PCF). Modem pool transceivers and modem pool controllers are parts of anetwork called an access network. An access network transports datapackets between multiple access terminals.

The access network may be further connected to additional networksoutside the access network, such as a corporate intranet or theInternet, and may transport data packets between each access terminaland such outside networks. An access terminal that has established anactive traffic channel connection with one or more modem pooltransceivers is called an active access terminal, and is said to be in atraffic state. An access terminal that is in the process of establishingan active traffic channel connection with one or more modem pooltransceivers is said to be in a connection setup state. An accessterminal may be any data device that communicates through a wirelesschannel or through a wired channel, for example using fiber optic orcoaxial cables. An access terminal may further be any of a number oftypes of devices including but not limited to PC card, compact flash,external or internal modem, or wireless or wireline phone. Thecommunication link through which the access terminal sends signals tothe modem pool transceiver is called a reverse link or traffic channel.The communication link through which a modem pool transceiver sendssignals to an access terminal is called a forward link or trafficchannel. As used herein the term traffic channel can refer to either aforward or reverse traffic channel.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of awireless system 100 in accordance with at least one embodiment of theinvention. System 100 can contain access terminals, such as cellulartelephone 102, in communication across an air interface 104 with anaccess network or radio access network (RAN) 120 that can connect theaccess terminal 102 to network equipment providing data connectivitybetween a packet switched data network (e.g., an intranet, the Internet,and/or carrier network 126) and the access terminals 102, 108, 110, 112.As shown here, the access terminal can be a cellular telephone 102, apersonal digital assistant 108, a pager 110, which is shown here as atwo-way text pager, or even a separate computer platform 112 that has awireless communication portal. Embodiments of the invention can thus berealized on any form of access terminal including a wirelesscommunication portal or having wireless communication capabilities,including without limitation, wireless modems, PCMCIA cards, personalcomputers, telephones, or any combination or sub-combination thereof.Further, as used herein, the terms “access terminal”, “wireless device”,“client device”, “mobile terminal” and variations thereof may be usedinterchangeably.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the components of the wireless network 100 andinterrelation of the elements of the exemplary embodiments of theinvention are not limited to the configuration illustrated. System 100is merely exemplary and can include any system that allows remote accessterminals, such as wireless client computing devices 102, 108, 110, 112to communicate over-the-air between and among each other and/or betweenand among components connected via the air interface 104 and RAN 120,including, without limitation, carrier network 126, the Internet, and/orother remote servers.

The RAN 120 controls messages (typically sent as data packets) sent to abase station controller/packet control function (BSC/PCF) 122. TheBSC/PCF 122 is responsible for signaling, establishing, and tearing downbearer channels (i.e., data channels) between a packet data service node160 (“PDSN”) and the access terminals 102/108/110/112. If link layerencryption is enabled, the BSC/PCF 122 also encrypts the content beforeforwarding it over the air interface 104. The function of the BSC/PCF122 is well-known in the art and will not be discussed further for thesake of brevity. The carrier network 126 may communicate with theBSC/PCF 122 by a network, the Internet and/or a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN). Alternatively, the BSC/PCF 122 may connectdirectly to the Internet or external network. Typically, the network orInternet connection between the carrier network 126 and the BSC/PCF 122transfers data, and the PSTN transfers voice information. The BSC/PCF122 can be connected to multiple base stations (BS) or modem pooltransceivers (MPT) 124. In a similar manner to the carrier network, theBSC/PCF 122 is typically connected to the MPT/BS 124 by a network, theInternet and/or PSTN for data transfer and/or voice information. TheMPT/BS 124 can broadcast data messages wirelessly to the accessterminals, such as cellular telephone 102. The MPT/BS 124, BSC/PCF 122and other components may form the RAN 120, as is known in the art.However, alternate configurations may also be used and the invention isnot limited to the configuration illustrated. For example, in anotherembodiment the functionality of the BSC/PCF 122 and one or more of theMPT/BS 124 may be collapsed into a single “hybrid” module having thefunctionality of both the BSC/PCF 122 and the MPT/BS 124.

FIG. 2 illustrates the carrier network 126 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the carrier network126 includes a packet data serving node (PDSN) 160, a broadcast servingnode 165, an application server 170 and an Internet 175. However,application server 170 and other components may be located outside thecarrier network in alternative embodiments. The PDSN 160 provides accessto the Internet 175, intranets and/or remote servers (e.g., applicationserver 170) for mobile stations (e.g., access terminals, such as 102,108, 110, 112 from FIG. 1) utilizing, for example, a cdma2000 RadioAccess Network (RAN) (e.g., RAN 120 of FIG. 1). Acting as an accessgateway, the PDSN 160 may provide simple IP and mobile IP access,foreign agent support, and packet transport. The PDSN 160 can act as aclient for Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) serversand other supporting infrastructure and provides mobile stations with agateway to the IP network as is known in the art. As shown in FIG. 2,the PDSN 160 may communicate with the RAN 120 (e.g., the BSC/PCF 122)via a conventional A10 connection. The A10 connection is well-known inthe art and will not be described further for the sake of brevity. Whilenot illustrated, the application server 170 may be configured to includea broadcast and multicast service (BCMCS) content provider, one or moreAAA servers, a push-to-talk (PTT) server, a media duplicator, a groupmanagement database, a call logging device, etc., the function of eachbeing well-known in the art.

Referring to FIG. 2, the broadcast serving node (BSN) 165 may beconfigured to support multicast and broadcast services. The BSN 165 willbe described in greater detail below. The BSN 165 communicates with theRAN 120 (e.g., the BSC/PCF 122) via a broadcast (BC) A10 connection, andwith the application server 170 via the Internet 175. The BCA10connection is used to transfer multicast and/or broadcast messaging.Accordingly, the application server 170 sends unicast messaging to thePDSN 160 via the Internet 175, and sends multicast messaging to the BSN165 via the Internet 175.

Again referring to FIG. 2, a BCMCS content server (not shown) makesBCMCS content (e.g., push-to-talk (PTT) audio packets) available withinan IP multicast stream. If higher layer encryption is enabled, the BCMCScontent server may encrypt the stream content.

Generally, as will be described in greater detail below, the RAN 120transmits multicast messages, received from the BSN 165 via the BCA10connection, over a broadcast channel (BCH) of the air interface 104 toone or more access terminals 200. As used herein, “multicast messages”and “multicasting” is intended to encompass any group communication, orany communication that potentially includes more than two participants,where the RAN 120 is aware of the AT(s)' group membership associations.For example, irrespective of whether the application server 170 connectsthree ATs via IP unicasting or IP multicasting protocols, the resultantcall may still be considered a multicast call as used herein (exceptwhere IP multicast or unicast are specifically referenced), so long asthe RAN 120 is aware that the three ATs are participating in a groupcommunication (e.g., although it is possible at least one ‘listener’ tothe group communication never registers to the session). Likewise, if acall initiator attempts to target two or more other ATs for a groupcall, and only one AT responds for at least a period of time, theresultant call is still a group or multicast call despite there onlybeing two participants for a period of time. However, certainembodiments, such as where reference is made to the Multicast AccessTerminal Identifier (MATI) for example, are more specifically to an IPmulticasting implementation, and not necessarily a group or multicastsession based on IP unicasting because MATIs are not typically used inIP unicasting).

Referring to FIG. 3, an access terminal 200, (here a wireless device),such as a cellular telephone, has a platform 202 that can receive andexecute software applications, data and/or commands transmitted from theRAN 120 that may ultimately come from the carrier network 126, theInternet and/or other remote servers and networks. The platform 202 caninclude a transceiver 206 operably coupled to an application specificintegrated circuit (“ASIC” 208), or other processor, microprocessor,logic circuit, or other data processing device. The ASIC 208 or otherprocessor executes the application programming interface (“API’) 210layer that interfaces with any resident programs in the memory 212 ofthe wireless device. The memory 212 can be comprised of read-only orrandom-access memory (RAM and ROM), EEPROM, flash cards, or any memorycommon to computer platforms. The platform 202 also can include a localdatabase 214 that can hold applications not actively used in memory 212.The local database 214 is typically a flash memory cell, but can be anysecondary storage device as known in the art, such as magnetic media,EEPROM, optical media, tape, soft or hard disk, or the like. Theinternal platform 202 components can also be operably coupled toexternal devices such as antenna 222, display 224, push-to-talk button228 and keypad 226 among other components, as is known in the art.

Accordingly, an embodiment of the invention can include an accessterminal including the ability to perform the functions describedherein. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the variouslogic elements can be embodied in discrete elements, software modulesexecuted on a processor or any combination of software and hardware toachieve the functionality disclosed herein. For example, ASIC 208,memory 212, API 210 and local database 214 may all be used cooperativelyto load, store and execute the various functions disclosed herein andthus the logic to perform these functions may be distributed overvarious elements. Alternatively, the functionality could be incorporatedinto one discrete component. Therefore, the features of the accessterminal in FIG. 3 are to be considered merely illustrative and theinvention is not limited to the illustrated features or arrangement.

The wireless communication between the access terminal 102 and the RAN120 can be based on different technologies, such as code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), WCDMA, time division multiple access (TDMA),frequency division multiple access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM), the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),or other protocols that may be used in a wireless communications networkor a data communications network. The data communication is typicallybetween the client device 102, MPT/BS 124, and BSC/PCF 122. The BSC/PCF122 can be connected to multiple data networks such as the carriernetwork 126, PSTN, the Internet 175, a virtual private network, and thelike, thus allowing the access terminal 102 access to a broadercommunication network. As discussed in the foregoing and known in theart, voice transmission and/or data can be transmitted to the accessterminals from the RAN using a variety of networks and configurations.Accordingly, the illustrations provided herein are not intended to limitthe embodiments of the invention and are merely to aid in thedescription of aspects of embodiments of the invention.

In order to better understand the present invention, conventionalmethods of paging members of a multicast group with paging indicator(PI) bits on a quick paging channel (QPCH) are described with respect toFIGS. 4 and 5, followed by multicast paging protocols on the QPCH inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention with respect toFIGS. 6 and 7. As used herein, a ‘multicast’ group is intended to referto a group call supported by IP multicasting protocols and/or IPunicasting protocols, unless a particular protocol is referred to withrespect to a particular embodiment. For example, a multicast accessterminal identifier (MATI) is typically used with respect to IPmulticasting, but not IP unicasting.

Below, FIGS. 4 through 7 are described such that pages occur on adownlink control channel (CCH). This description, therefore, is at leastdirectly applicable to wireless protocols, such as EV-DO, that include adownlink CCH for paging access terminals within the wirelesscommunication system. However, it will be appreciated that, inalternative embodiments, other downlink channels can be used to pageATs. For example, a paging channel (PCH) and/or a downlink commoncontrol channel (F-CCCH) are used in 1x to page ATs. Likewise, a quickpaging channel (QPCH) is implemented as a logical channel or sub-channelin EV-DO over the CCM and is transmitted as a separate message at aspecific slot (e.g., although the QPCH can require some specifichandling at the Physical layer). In 1x, the QPCH is a physical channel.Accordingly, while described below as a logical channel in embodimentsdescribed with respect to EV-DO, other embodiments can be directed tothe QPCH as a separate physical channel.

Accordingly, while described below with respect to EV-DO terminology, itwill be appreciated that the embodiments are not limited to EV-DOimplementations. Accordingly, as used herein, the downlink CCH isdefined as any broadcast channel that a given AT monitors periodicallywhen operating in the idle mode for mobile-terminated data, with thedefinition for the CCH only being limited if explicit reference is givento a particular wireless communications protocol (e.g., EV-DO Rev. A,Rev. B, 1x, etc.) is otherwise indicated. Likewise, references to CCHcapsules below may be designated differently in other protocols, such asby the more generic term “timeslots”, in an example. Also, while certainprotocols define a ‘page message’ as being a specific type of message,page messages referred to hereinafter are intended to be broadlyinterpreted as corresponding to any downlink message that instructs anAT or ATs to monitor a downlink channel (e.g., a downlink CCH, PCH,F-CCCH, etc.), except where otherwise indicated.

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional process of paging multicast groupmembers for a multicast communication. The QPCH is a forward linkchannel that is used to page access terminals within the wireless system100. A particular cycle of the QPCH, in EV-DO, may be carried upon agiven control channel capsule within a CCH cycle, with one QPCH cyclebeing transmitted per control channel capsule (e.g., although it is alsopossible to provide the QPCH cycle less often, such as at every otherCCH cycle, and so on). The QPCH conserves power at access terminalsbecause the access terminals need only periodically monitor the QPCH,instead of continuously monitoring a transmission channel and/or thedownlink control channel. If the QPCH indicates a “potential” page, theaccess terminal next monitors or evaluates another downlink channelportion to confirm whether the access terminal has been paged. Forexample, in EV-DO, the access terminal would monitor the control channelcapsule subsequent to the QPCH cycle on the downlink control channelcycle, while in 1x, in an example, the access terminal would monitor apaging channel that is offset from the end of the QPCH cycle by a givenamount of time, such as 20 ms.

In 400, the RAN 120 determines a unicast access terminal identifier(UATI) for a given AT (“AT1”) among ATs 1 . . . N. Next, in 405, the RAN120 applies a hash function to the UATI for AT1 (e.g., or other uniqueidentifier, as discussed below) in order to map the UATI to a pagingindicator (PI) bit on the QPCH cycle to AT1.

Generally, each access terminal among ATs 1 . . . N will be assigned agiven PI bit on the QPCH cycle based on each access terminal's uniqueidentifier (e.g., UATI in 1xEV-DO, MATI in 1xEV-DO, IMSI in 1x, etc.),and the process of FIG. 4 has been described with respect to AT1 forconvenience of explanation. Below, embodiments of the present inventionare described as being applied to UATIs in accordance with 1xEV-DO.However, it will be readily appreciated that these embodiments could bemodified by one of ordinary skill in the art so as to conform withunique identifiers consistent with other standards (or with MATIs in1xEV-DO). For example, a SessionSeed for an AT can be used to uniquelyidentify the AT instead of the UATI. The number of UATI's within thewireless communications system 100 can be relatively high, whereas thenumber of available PI bits on the QPCH cycle is relatively low. Thus,in 405, the RAN 120 maps or “hashes” the UATIs to assign each AT an PIbit (or more than one bit), 405, where the same PI bit(s) can beassigned to different ATs. Thus, if a PI bit or bits is set to indicatea page, the PI bit(s) only indicate a “potential” page because the PIbit(s) could actually be indicating a page for another access terminalthat has been assigned the same PI bit(s).

Returning to 405, the hash function for the UATI can correspond to anywell-known hash function, and can be based on the number of PI bits ineach QPCH cycle. For example, assume that each QPCH cycle (e.g., whichis transmitted at a given period, such as every 200 ms or once per CCHcycle on a given CCH capsule as noted above) includes 16 PI bits. Thus,in an example, the hash function can mask all but the 4 leastsignificant bits (LSBs) of AT1's UATI, and to use the binary numberindicated by the 4 LSBs as the position of AT1's assigned PI bit. Thus,if the 4 LSBs of AT1's UATI are “0000”, AT1 can be assigned the 1^(st)LSB of the 16 PI bits. If the 4 LSBs of AT1's UATI are “1110”, AT1 wouldbe assigned the 15^(th) LSB or 2^(nd) most significant bit (MSB) of the16 PI bits, and so on. However, it will be appreciated that anywell-known hashing function can be used in step 405.

In an example, the QPCH cycle can correspond to a QPCH message (e.g., agiven bit or field, a synchronous or sub-synchronous Control Channelheader, etc., which is discussed below in more detail) in EV-DO RevisionA. In another example, the QPCH cycle can correspond to a Quick Pagemessage transmitted as part of the Quick Synchronous Control ChannelCapsule with Quick Paging Indicator bits in 1xEV-DO. In another example,the QPCH cycle can be a QuickPage message in EV-DO revision B. Inanother example, the QPCH cycle can correspond to a QPCH as a physicaldownlink channel with PI bits in 1x. Accordingly, it will be appreciatedthat while reference is made to QPCH cycle in embodiments of the presentinvention described below, QPCH cycles are intended to be read broadlyupon any channel, or any timeslot (e.g., a control channel capsule) of agiven channel, that conveys information with regard to whether to checkanother downlink channel or channel portion (e.g., a paging channel in1x, a subsequent control channel capsule on the CCH in EV-DO, etc.) toconfirm a page. In another example, the QPCH cycle can correspond to aproprietary message that includes or encapsulates a given message (e.g.,a QuickPage message) that indicates a potential arrival of a subsequentpage (or other message) to the AT. For example, the proprietary messagecan be encapsulated as part of a StorageBlobRequest (e.g., aBCMCSFlowRegistration request) or StorageBlobAssignment message inEV-DO, and transmitted in an initial control channel MAC packet in thesynchronous or sub-synchronous capsules.

In 410, AT1 periodically monitors its assigned PI bit(s) on the QPCH todetermine whether there is a possibility that AT1 is being paged. Forexample, AT1 can be in an idle state (e.g., such as when the accessterminal is not engaged in a telephone call, a multicast session, etc.),and can periodically power-up to check a given QPCH cycle in order todetermine whether AT1 is being paged. In a further example, a PI bit orbits set to a higher logic level (e.g., binary “1”) can indicate a page,and a PI bit or bits set to a lower logic level (e.g., binary “0”) canindicate a non-page.

In 415, assume that the RAN 120 determines that AT1 is not to be paged.Further assume that no other AT among ATs 2 . . . N, that has beenassigned the same PI bit(s) as AT1, is to be paged. With theseassumptions, the RAN 120 sets the PI bit(s) assigned for AT1 to indicatea non-page (e.g., AT1's PI bit=“0”), 415, and the RAN 120 transmits thePI bits on the forward link QPCH (e.g., at a next QPCH cycle) with AT1'sPI bit(s) set to a non-page status, 420. For example, if AT1 is assigneda single PI bit and AT1's PI bit is a 15^(th) bit among 16 PI bits inthe QPCH cycle, the QPCH cycle can be configured as follows, in anexample:

TABLE 1 Example QPCH cycle PI bit #: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1516 PI bit value X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 0 Xwhere PI bits set to a lower logic level (e.g., binary “0”) indicate anon-page, and PI bits set to “X” indicate a “don't care” state (i.e.,these PI bits can be set to either “0” or “1” without affecting AT1).

Next, AT1 monitors the QPCH cycle and detects that its PI bit or bits donot indicate a page, 425. If AT1 woke up from an idle state to check theQPCH cycle, AT1 can resume idle mode until powering-up to evaluate thenext QPCH cycle. Likewise, it will be appreciated that any other ATsassigned the same PI bit(s) as AT1 also check the QPCH cycle and detectthe non-page status of the PI bit in 425.

In 435, the application server 170 (or other initiator) requests thatmulticast packets be sent to a multicast group including at least AT1.Accordingly, in 435, the multicast packets are routed to the BSN 165. In440, the BSN 165 forwards the multicast packets over the BCA10connection to the RAN 120. For example, the multicast packets are firstforwarded to the BSC/PCF 122, and the BSC/PCF 122 analyzes the multicastgroup members for the multicast packets and forwards the multicastpackets to each MPT/BS 124 serving one or more multicast group members.

Once the RAN 120 receives the multicast packets to be sent to multicastgroup members in association with a multicast session (e.g., a broadcastmulticast service (BCMCS) session), the RAN 120 determines the UATIs foreach multicast group member. The RAN 120 applies a hash function to eachUATI or alternative unique identifiers of the AT (e.g., in protocolsother than 1xEV-DO, as mentioned above) in order to assign at least onePI bit on the QPCH to each multicast group member, 450. In an example,the hashing step 450 may be performed in advance of the receipt of themulticast packets from 440, and as such need not be performed each timemulticast packets are received. In other words, the RAN 120 can maintaina table with each UATI (or other unique identifier) and its associatedPI bit position(s) within the QPCH cycle on the QPCH. The hashingfunction applied in 450 to the multicast group members can be the samehashing function applied to AT1's UATI in 405.

After determining the PI bit positions for each multicast group member,the RAN 120 sets the PI bits assigned for each multicast group member toindicate a page (e.g., multicast group member PI bits=“1”), 455, and theRAN 120 transmits the QPCH cycle on the forward link QPCH with eachmulticast group member's PI bit set to a page status, 460. The multicastgroup members, including AT1, monitor the QPCH cycle and detect thattheir respective PI bits indicate a potential page, 465. Next, becausethe multicast group members detect a page indication on the QPCH cycle,the multicast group members next confirm the page on the downlink CCH(e.g., by decoding the CCH capsule following the QPCH cycle on thedownlink CCH, in EV-DO), 470. For example, in EV-DO, the downlink CCHcapsule following the CCH capsule for the QPCH cycle indicates whether agiven AT is actually paged, whereas the CCH capsule corresponding to theQPCH cycle only indicates a potential page. Alternatively, in a 1×implementation for example, as noted above, the PCH can be checked in470 (e.g., a Forward Link Paging Channel (F-PCH) or a ForwardLink-Common Control Channel (F-CCCH) in a 1x network), after a giventime offset from the QPCH cycle. The RAN 120 then transmits themulticast packets over the air interface 104 to the paged multicastgroup members with group transmission (e.g., IP multicasting, IPunicasting, etc.) protocols as is known in the art, 475, and themulticast group members exit idle mode (if applicable) and monitor themulticast transmissions, 480.

However, as will be appreciated, the multicast group members are notnecessarily the only access terminals that receive a PI bit indicating apotential page in 465. For example, assume that ATs 1 . . . N includeATs 1 through 10, with ATs 1 through 5 being multicast group members,and that there are 4 PI bits in the QPCH cycle. Further assume thatafter the hashing step 450, the PI bit positions of ATs 1 through 10 areas follows:

TABLE 2 Example of PI bit positions for ATs within a QPCH cycle PI bitposition: 1 2 3 4 AT #: 1, 4, 5, 6 2, 7, 8, 9 3 10

Referring to Table 2 (above), (i) PI bit position #1 includes multicastgroup members AT1, AT4 and AT5, (ii) PI bit position #2 includesmulticast group members AT2, AT7, AT8 and AT9, (iii) PI bit position #3includes multicast group member AT3 and (iv) PI bit position #4 does notinclude any multicast group members. Accordingly, PI bit positions #1,#2 and #3 each include at least one multicast group member, and the RAN120 sets PI bit positions #1, #2 and #3 to indicate a page, 455 (e.g.,PI bit positions #1, #2 and #3=“1”). However, as will be appreciated byone of ordinary skill in the art, non-member ATs 6, 7, 8 and 9 are alsoassigned PI bits #1 and #2, respectively. Thus, ATs 6, 7, 8 and 9 willdetect a potential page upon receipt of the QPCH cycle, and will expendadditional power to check at least one other downlink CCH capsule (e.g.,or the PCH or F-CCCH in 1x) to confirm the page. Thus, a high number ofnon-member ATs can receive a “false-positive” setting of theirrespective PI bits during a multicast session. In the example providedabove with respect to Table 2, each multicast group member is assigned asingle PI bit that indicates a potential page for that AT. However, itwill be appreciated that other embodiments can be directed to ATs ormulticast group members being assigned multiple PI bits, such that eachof the multiple PI bits would be set to an active page status toindicate a potential page for that AT.

FIG. 5 illustrates another conventional process of paging multicastgroup members for a multicast communication. Referring to FIG. 5, in500, ATs 1 . . . N monitor the QPCH periodically to determine whether apotential page is indicated. In 505, the application server 170 (orother initiator) requests that multicast packets be sent to a multicastgroup including a number of multicast group members. Accordingly, in505, the multicast packets are routed to the BSN 165. In 510, the BSN165 forwards the multicast packets over the BCA10 connection to the RAN120. For example, the multicast packets are first forwarded to theBSC/PCF 122, and the BSC/PCF 122 analyzes the multicast group membersfor the multicast packets and forwards the multicast packets to eachMPT/BS 124 serving one or more multicast group members.

Once the RAN 120 receives the multicast packets to be sent to multicastgroup members in association with a multicast session (e.g., a BCMCSsession), the RAN 120 sets the QPCH cycle to indicate a broadcast page,515. The broadcast page does not mean that the multicast packets arebroadcast to ATs 1 . . . N, but rather means that the QPCH cycle (ormore than one QPCH cycle) indicates, to each of ATs 1 . . . N, tomonitor another downlink CCH portion to confirm the broadcast page(e.g., in EV-DO, as noted above, this means checking the next CCHcapsule on the CCH cycle following the QPCH cycle's CCH capsule). TheQPCH cycle can be set to indicate a broadcast page by modifying a headerof the QPCH cycle as is known in the art, or alternatively by settingeach PI bit within the QPCH to indicate a page (e.g., each PI bit=“1”).For example, if the QPCH cycle includes 16 PI bits, the QPCH cycleconfigured to indicate a broadcast page can be as follows:

TABLE 3 Example Broadcast-page QPCH cycle PI bit #: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 13 14 15 16 PI bit value 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Next, the RAN 120 transmits the QPCH cycle on the forward link QPCHeither with (i) a broadcast page indicated in a header of the QPCH cycleor (ii) each PI bit set to indicate a page status, 520. The ATs 1 . . .N, monitor the QPCH cycle and detect a potential page, 525. Next, theATs 1 . . . N further evaluate the downlink CCH (e.g., in EV-DO, bychecking a CCH capsule following the QPCH cycle's CCH capsule), 530, andthe multicast group members confirm an actual multicast page, whereasthe non-member ATs only confirm a page only if the non-member ATs areseparately paged (e.g., by another multicast or unicast session). TheRAN 120 then transmits the multicast packets over the air interface 104to the paged multicast group members with group transmission (e.g., IPmulticasting, IP unicasting, etc.) protocols as is known in the art,535, and the multicast group members exit idle mode (if applicable) andmonitor the multicast transmissions, 540.

However, similar to activating PI bits for each multicast group memberin a unicast fashion, the broadcast page of FIG. 5 typically requires anumber of “false-positive”page indications to non-member ATs, which canconsume power unnecessarily at those non-member ATs. Accordingly,embodiments of the present invention are directed to paging protocolsfor multicast session that reduce the number of non-member ATs thatreceive false-positive page indications for multicast sessions.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process of assigning PI bits to multicast groups,and FIG. 7 illustrates a process of paging multicast group members for agroup communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.It will be appreciated that FIG. 6 is primarily directed to a MATIimplementation, and as such is specific to a group session based on IPmulticast, and not necessarily related to IP unicast. FIG. 7, on theother hand, is more generic, and while examples are given with respectto the MATI in FIG. 7, FIG. 7 can be implemented in a non-MATI mannerthat can be directed to group sessions based on IP unicast or IPmulticast.

Referring to FIG. 6, in 600, the RAN 120 assigns a header configurationfor the QPCH cycle that indicates the presence of one or more multicastPI bits. For example, a particular bit setting within the reserve fieldof the EV-DO MAC header of the QPCH cycle can be used to indicate thepresence of one or more multicast PI bits within the QPCH cycle. Table 4(below) illustrates a number of examples of QPCH cycle headers for MAClayer control channel QPCH cycles (e.g., in a 1xEV-DO Rev. A network).As will be appreciated, while not illustrated in Table 4, otherembodiments can be directed to header configurations for QPCH cycles inan F-PCH or F-CCCH in a 1x network, for example.

TABLE 4 QPCH cycle header examples Field Length (bits)SynchronousCapsule 1 FirstPacket 1 LastPacket 1 Offset 2SleepStateCapsuleDone 1 Reserved 2

After assigning the header configuration in 600, the RAN 120 informs ATsthat are present within one or more multicast groups of the assignedheader configuration such that the multicast group member ATs cananalyze the headers of QPCH cycles to determine whether to check anassociated PI bit for a multicast group, 605. In another example, the2-bit reserved field of the QPCH cycle header can be set to indicate thepresence of a page to multicast ATs (e.g., in place of, or in additionto, PI bits within the actual QPCH cycle).

Next, the RAN 120 determines a multicast access terminal identifier(MATI) for a particular multicast group, 610. The MATI is a uniqueidentifier of a multicast group, whereas the UATI (discussed above) is aunique identifier of a particular access terminal. In 615, the RAN 120applies a hash function to the MATI to map a PI bit position within theQPCH cycle to the multicast group identified by the MATI.

The hash function of 615 can be configured in any number of ways. Forexample, the MATI hash function can be configured to be the same as theUATI hash function described above with respect to 405/450 of FIG. 4. Aswill be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, both UATIs andMATIs can be hashed to the same PI bits. In another example, if amulticast group is expected to be large, the hash function can assignthe MATI to a “reserved” multicast PI bit position within the QPCHcycle, wherein UATIs are not hashed to the reserved multicast PI bitposition. While the above examples illustrate a few potential hashfunctions that may be applied in 615, it will be appreciated that otherembodiments of the present invention can be directed to animplementation of any type of well-known hash function in 615. Afterhashing the MATI to the QPCH cycle for the given multicast group, theRAN 120 informs the multicast group members of the given multicast groupof the assigned PI bit position. Thus, as will be described in greaterdetail below with respect to FIG. 7, the multicast group members of thegiven multicast group check the PI bit for the given multicast group(610, 615, 620) if the header configuration of the QPCH cycle indicatesthat one or more multicast groups are being paged (600, 605). The 1x andEV-DO standards define hash functions that are utilized for enablingQPCH cycles within its framework.

Referring to FIG. 7, ATs 1 . . . N monitor the QPCH periodically todetermine whether potential pages are present within the QPCH cycle. In705, the RAN 120 determines whether any multicast groups are to bepaged. For example, if the RAN 120 receives one or more multicastpackets for transmission to a multicast group, the RAN 120 can determineto page that multicast group in 705. In 705, assume the RAN 120determines that no multicast groups are to be paged, and therefore theRAN 120 configures the header of the QPCH cycle to indicate that nomulticast pages are present, 710. For example, in 710, the RAN 120configures the header of the QPCH cycle can be configured in aconventional manner (e.g., different than the header configuration asdetermined in 600 of FIG. 6). Next, the RAN 120 transmits the PI bits ofthe QPCH cycle to ATs 1 . . . N. Here, the QPCH cycle includes onlyunicast PI bits paging ATs based on hashed UATIs, as is known in the artand described above with respect to portions of FIG. 4.

ATs 1 . . . N, which are monitoring the QPCH (e.g., by temporarilypowering up while in an idle state, except for ATs that are engaged inan active communication session), receive the QPCH cycle transmitted bythe RAN 120. ATs 1 . . . N analyze the header of the QPCH cycle anddetermine that no multicast pages are contained therein, 720.Accordingly, ATs 1 . . . N next evaluate their respective unicast PIbits to determine whether a potential unicast page is present for therespective ATs, 725. While not illustrated within FIG. 7 for the sake ofclarity, ATs among ATs 1 . . . N that determine a potential page ispresent can further check the downlink CCH (e.g., by decoding asubsequent CCH capsule in EV-DO) to confirm the page, whereas ATs amongATs 1 . . . N that determine a potential page is not present need notfurther decode the CCH cycle (e.g., at least until a next QPCH cycle ona future CCH cycle), resume idle mode, etc.

In 730, the application server 170 (or other initiator) requests thatmulticast packets be sent to a multicast group including a number ofmulticast group members. Accordingly, in 730, the multicast packets arerouted to the BSN 165. In 735, the BSN 165 forwards the multicastpackets over the BCA10 connection to the RAN 120. For example, themulticast packets are first forwarded to the BSC/PCF 122, and theBSC/PCF 122 analyzes the multicast group members for the multicastpackets and forwards the multicast packets to each MPT/BS 124 servingone or more multicast group members.

Accordingly, in 740, the RAN 120 determines whether any multicast groupsare to be paged. Here, because the BSN 165 has forwarded multicastpackets to be transmitted to a given multicast group, the RAN 120determines to page the given multicast group in 740. Next, in 745, theRAN 120 configures the header of the QPCH cycle to indicate the presenceof one or more multicast pages. For example, the header configurationcan correspond to the configuration established within 600 of FIG. 6.The RAN 120 also sets the multicast PI bit for the given multicast groupon the QPCH cycle to indicate a page of the given multicast group, 750.The multicast PI bit for the given multicast group corresponds to the PIbit position established in 615 with the hash function.

In 755, the RAN 120 transmits the QPCH cycle including the (i)configured multicast indicating header and (ii) the PI bits, to ATs 1 .. . N. Unlike the QPCH cycle transmitted in 715, the QPCH cycle of 755includes at least one PI bit indicating a multicast page in addition toany unicast PI bits that are present. Likewise, in 755, the RAN 120configures the control channel (CCH) to indicate an actual page of thegiven multicast group, and transmits the configured CCH to the givenmulticast group. For example, the configured CCH can include a first CCHcapsule including the QPCH cycle that indicates the potential page forthe multicast group, and a second CCH capsule (e.g., directly followingthe first CCH capsule) to confirm the multicast group page.

ATs 1 . . . N, which continue to monitor the QPCH (e.g., by temporarilypowering up while in an idle state, except for ATs engaged in an activecommunication session), receive the QPCH cycle transmitted by the RAN120. ATs 1 . . . N analyze the header of the QPCH cycle and determinethat one or more multicast pages are contained therein, 760. In 725,each of ATs 1 . . . N evaluates their respective unicast PI bits todetermine whether a potential unicast page is present for the respectiveATs, 765. Further, also in 765, ATs among ATs 1 . . . N that belong toat least one multicast group further evaluate the multicast PI bit(s)for the at least one multicast group to determine whether a potentialmulticast page is present for multicast group members. For example, themulticast PI bit(s) evaluated by the multicast group members aretransferred to the multicast group members at 620 of FIG. 6.

In 770, both (i) the paged multicast group members and (ii) ATs havingthe same PI bit position within the QPCH cycle as any paged multicastgroup(s) perform an additional evaluation of the downlink CCH (e.g., bydecoding the next CCH capsule that follows the CCH capsule carrying theQPCH cycle, in EV-DO protocol). Here, the paged multicast group membersconfirm the multicast page, whereas the ATs that have the same PI bitposition within the QPCH cycle as the multicast group determine whethera unicast page is present (i.e., because the non-member ATs are notinterested in the multicast page). The RAN 120 then transmits themulticast packets over the air interface 104 to the paged multicastgroup members with multicasting protocols (e.g., as indicated in the CCHpage in 755) as is known in the art, 775, and the multicast groupmembers exit idle mode (if applicable) and monitor the multicasttransmissions, 780.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, configuringmulticast pages for a particular multicast group to occupy a single PIbit within the QPCH cycle based on the MATI reduces the number offalse-positive page indicators for non-member ATs as compared to eitherthe unicast implementation of FIG. 4 or the broadcast implementation ofFIG. 5. As discussed above, the unicast implementation for pagingmulticast groups, where each multicast group member is paged withunicast protocols based on each AT's UATI, pages each PI bit associatedwith each multicast group member on the QPCH cycle. Likewise, thebroadcast implementation for paging multicast groups sets a broadcast PIbit to page all ATs. Accordingly, mapping or hashing the MATI to asingle PI bit within the QPCH cycle can reduce the number of non-memberATs that are paged for the multicast (i.e., because non-member ATs ofthe single PI bit are potentially inconvenienced, as opposed tonon-member ATs of multiple PI bits).

However, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, thereduction in false-positives of non-member ATs is achieved as a tradeoffwith respect to processing overhead at ATs that are members of multicastgroups. In FIG. 4, each multicast group member monitors its own unicastPI bit on the QPCH cycle, but need not monitor any other PI bit. Asdescribed in FIG. 7, multicast group members evaluate at least oneadditional PI bit position within the QPCH cycle, which can consumeresources (e.g., power, processing time, etc.) at the member ATs (e.g.,unless the multicast PI bit position is mapped/hashed to the same PI bitposition as a member AT's unicast PI bit).

As discussed above with respect to embodiments of the invention, theQPCH conserves power at access terminals because the access terminalsneed only periodically monitor the QPCH, instead of continuouslymonitoring a transmission channel or the remainder of the downlink CCH.In other words, when an access terminal is idle, the access terminalremains in standby mode except for periodic wake-ups to check the QPCHfor a potential page. The higher the rate at which the access terminalwakes up, the lower the standby time, although the delay setup time isalso reduced.

Embodiments of the invention described above with respect to FIGS. 6 and7 have generally been directed to protocols (e.g., 1xEV-DO Rev. B) wherehandsets or ATs wake up relatively frequently to check its PI bit(s) onthe QPCH cycle (e.g., the AT wakes up once per CCH cycle to check theQPCH cycle for a potential page). If the PI bits within the QPCH cycleare decoded by an AT and these bit(s) indicate that the AT has a pagelikely destined to it, the AT decodes the Control Channel capsule(s) (orPCH in 1x) to determine if there was indeed a page and/or other forms ofmobile-terminated messages (e.g., for BOMs, DOS Announce messages,etc.). The downlink channel portion for confirming the page is typicallyoffset in time from the QPCH cycle by a fixed amount. For example, inEV-DO, if a CCH capsule carrying a QPCH cycle indicates a potential pageof the AT, the CCH capsule on the downlink CCH cycle for the AT toconfirm the page occurs at a timeslot or capsule following the QPCHcycle. In another example, in 1x, if a QPCH cycle indicates a potentialpage of the AT, the PCH portion for the AT to confirm the page begins agiven time (e.g., ˜20 ms) after the end of the QPCH cycle. If the PIbits indicate that there was no page destined for this AT, the AT willnot decode the subsequent CCH capsule and/or PCH, but will instead go tosleep (e.g., idle mode), thereby conserving battery power. If the AT isunable to decode the PI bits (or the QuickPage message) for example dueto weak channel conditions, the AT continues to decode the channelportion for confirming pages (e.g., the next CCH capsule in EV-DO, etc.)to confirm or disconfirm whether page are present. \

As mentioned above, QPCH cycles are short and occur relativelyfrequently (e.g., once per CCH cycle within one capsule of the CCH, inEV-DO), and the higher the rate at which ATs wake up to monitor for apotential page on the QPCH, the lower the standby time of the AT (e.g.,which can increase power consumption) while the call setup delay isdecreased (e.g., because an AT is likely to recognize a page during afirst CCH cycle at which the AT is paged). Typically, in CDMA systems,there is one QPCH cycle per control channel capsule (e.g., on the CCH inEV-DO) or PCH slot (e.g., in 1x), although it will be appreciated thatthe QPCH cycle can occur more frequently (e.g., more than once per CCHcycle) or less frequently (e.g., every other CCH cycle, once every threeCCH cycles, etc.) in other embodiments of the invention.

Further, it will be appreciated that false positives are possible for anAT's PI bit(s) within the QPCH cycle (e.g., because PI bits are notAT-specific and a PI bit set to indicate a potential page for an AT orgroup of ATs does not necessarily intend to page each AT assigned tothat PI bit), which can increase power consumption for the AT if the ATnot actually being paged, and thereby reduce the reliability of the QPCHapproach. Also, using the QPCH cycle to indicate potential pages of ATsrequires a negotiation between the AT(s) and the RAN 120 (e.g., toassign the PI bit(s) to the AT(s), as in FIG. 6). In general, incellular networks, a large number N of ATs can be registered with theRAN 120 (e.g., 50,000<N<200,000). However, the size of the QPCH cycledoes not have an individual PI bit associated with each AT forefficiency purposes. Therefore, if there are 180 bits available, on anaverage N/180 ATs are expected to be hashed to the same PI bits.Therefore, the PI bits in general, when set, indicate the arrival of apage to any of the N/180 ATs. Since the page arrival rate for N/180 ATsis still relatively small, the AT only decodes a limited number of CCHcapsules in the idle state even for large N. As a result, the QPCHprovides gains to standby time for ATs in a cellular network.

FIG. 8 illustrates a conventional paging process. Referring to FIG. 8,the RAN 120 determines whether to send data to AT 1, 800. If the RAN 120determines to send data to AT 1, the RAN 120 pages AT 1 by sending apage message (e.g., a QuickConfig message) on a downlink CCH capsule,805. As used in the embodiment of FIG. 8, the page message correspondsto a message that indicates whether an AT is actually being paged, incontrast to the QPCH cycle which can only indicate ‘potential’ pages ofATs due to the assignment of each PI bit to multiple ATs.Conventionally, after an actual page of an AT, the AT sets up a trafficchannel to receive the data associated with the page, whereas anindication of a potential page prompts the AT to confirm the page on theCCH (e.g., or the PCH in certain non-EV-DO systems) As will now bedescribed, data associated with the page can also be sent on the CCH,without necessarily requiring a separate TCH to be setup. In FIG. 8,assume that the page of 805 instructs AT 1 to monitor or decode thedownlink CCH. As will be appreciated, under this assumption, paging AT 1instructs AT 1 to decode control channel capsules on the downlink CCHuntil another CCH capsule indicates that AT 1 is no longer being paged.

Referring to FIG. 8, AT 1 wakes up and decodes the page on the CCH, 810,and begins decoding each control channel capsule on the downlink CCH,815. The RAN 120 transmits one or more data packets to AT 1 on one ormore of the control channel capsules on the downlink CCH, 820. While notshown explicitly in FIG. 8, assume that AT 1 successfully decodes eachdata packet transmitted in 820 because AT 1 continues to decode eachcontrol channel capsule.

In 825, the RAN 120 determines whether to continue sending data to AT 1.If AT 1 determines to continue sending data to AT 1, the process returnsto 805 and the next CCH cycle indicates that AT 1 is still being paged.Otherwise, the next CCH cycle indicates that AT 1 is no longer beingpaged, 830. AT 1 monitors the CCH and detects that a page for AT 1 is nolonger present, 835, and AT 1 stops decoding control channel capsules onthe downlink CCH, 840.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, it ispossible and perhaps even likely that not all control channel capsuleson the downlink CCH will include messages for AT 1, even assuming AT 1is being paged. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention, which willnow be described in greater detail with respect to FIG. 9, are directedto increasing standby time to conserve power at one or more accessterminals (e.g., within a system that does not necessarily use the QPCH,such as 1xEV-DO Rev. A network), while also reducing the number ofpackets an AT must decode on the downlink control channel in the eventof a page. In the embodiments of the invention described below, a pagemessage (e.g., a QuickConfig message, a StorageBlobAssignment message,etc., or any message that instructs an AT to monitor a downlink channelfor incoming messages) carried on a downlink CCH (e.g., the CCH inEV-DO, the PCH or F-CCCH in 1x, etc.) indicates whether one or morecontrol channel capsules include data or other information designatedfor a particular AT, or group of ATs, and also indicates less than allcontrol channel capsules among a set of control channel capsules (e.g.,the set of capsules between CCH cycle intervals) for the AT to decode(e.g., instead of decoding each control channel capsule until the AT'spaging status changes). While the embodiments described below aredirected generally to an 1xEV-DO Rev. A network, it will be appreciatedhow other embodiments of the invention can be directed to any networkincluding a downlink channel indicating pages (e.g., even if the networkalso includes a QPCH).

FIG. 9 illustrates a paging process according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 9, the RAN 120 determines whetherto send data to AT 1, 900. If the RAN 120 determines to send data to AT1, the RAN 120 pages AT 1, 805. In 905, the RAN 120 selects less thanall control channel capsules among a given set of control channelcapsules (e.g., the set of control channel capsules may encompass eachcontrol channel capsule between the time the page message is transmitteduntil a time at which a next page message is transmitted) on thedownlink CCH for AT 1 to monitor. As will be appreciated, the set ofcontrol channel capsules may include synchronous control channelcapsules, sub-synchronous control channel capsules and/or asynchronouscontrol channel capsules. In an example, the selected less than allcontrol channel capsules may correspond to the control channel capsulesupon which the RAN 120 intends to transmit packets designated for AT 1.In another example, the selected less than all control channel capsulesmay correspond to the control channel capsules in proximity to controlchannel capsules upon which the RAN 120 intends to transmit packetsdesignated for AT 1 (e.g., to decrease the chances of a missed packet byexpanding the timeslot or capsule-range for the AT(s) to decode). Theselected less than all control channel capsules may include a singlecontrol channel capsule, or alternatively can include multiple controlchannel capsules.

In a further example, the selected less than all control channelcapsules may correspond to control channel capsules immediatelyfollowing the page message (e.g., transmitted in 915, below, such as aQuickConfig message in 1xEV-DO Rev. A). In this example, the data to betransmitted to AT 1 can be delay sensitive (e.g., an announce messagefor a push-to-talk (PTT) call, etc.), and scheduling information fortransmission to AT 1 on the first available control channel capsule(s)subsequent to the page message can decrease a call setup time or initialPTT latency.

Next, in 910, the RAN 120 configures a page message (e.g., a QuickConfigmessage) to indicate a page of AT 1, and also to indicate the selectedless than all control channel capsules. As mentioned above, a “pagemessage” is intended to be interpreted broadly, and can be indicative ofa page message, a quick-page message, or any other message (e.g.,proprietary or non-proprietary) that, when conveyed to one or more ATsover the downlink control channel, results in the one or more ATsmonitoring some portion of a downlink channel (e.g., such as thedownlink control channel itself, which can be a PCH or Common ControlChannel (F-CCCH) in 1x, a CCH in EV-DO, etc.).

In 910, the selected less than all control channel capsules can beindicated to AT 1 in a number of ways within the page message, as willbe appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, in1xEV-DO Rev. A, there are 128 MAC indices available. One or more ofthese 128 MAC indices may be reserved and pre-defined to indicate to ATsthe control channel capsule or capsules that include information for apaged AT. Thus, by including a reserved or pre-defined MAC index in thepage message (e.g., the QuickConfig message), the RAN 120 can convey, toAT 1, the control channel capsule(s) to decode. In a specific 1xEV-DORev. In an example, the FTCValid and/or RPCCount bits in the QuickConfigmessage can be used to convey the selected less than all control channelcapsule(s). In an alternative example, a StorageBlobAssignment messagethat is addressed to the Broadcast Access Terminal Identifier (BATI) canbe used to convey the selected less than all control channel capsule(s)can be used instead of the QuickConfig message. In an example, the pagemessage (e.g., the QuickConfig and/or StorageBlobAssignment message) canbe configured to indicate a given number that corresponds to the numberof consecutive control channel capsules on the downlink CCH for AT 1 todecode subsequent to the page message. For example, while theQuickConfig message is limited in its scope due to availability of a fewbits, the StorageBlob* message (e.g., StorageBlobAssignment message,StorageBlobRequest message, etc.) is customizable. In an example, thecontents of the StorageBlob* message can be the same as a QuickPagemessage. However, it will be appreciated that there is no RAN hardwareupgrade required with using a customized StorageBlob* message.Alternately, the StorageBlob when used for a single call/page messagetransmission can indicate a time-schedule of slots for a givenpage/message transmission. For example, in this regard, the StorageBlob*message can ‘mirror’ the BOM message in the sense that schedulinginformation is conveyed to one or more ATs, except that the actual datatransmissions occur over the CCH rather than the BCH (e.g., as is thecase for BOMs). In an example, the page message can be included a DOSmessage on the downlink CCH, which is described in more detail withinco-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 12/242,444, entitled “ANNOUNCING ACALL TO AN ACCESS TERMINAL IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM” filed onSep. 30, 2008, assigned to the same assignee of the present application,and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In an alternativeexample, individual control channel capsules or control channel capsuleranges can be indicated by the page message, such that the selected lessthan all control channel capsules need not fall immediately after thepage message and/or consecutively relative to each other.

In an example, it will be appreciated that paging messages are typicallysent from the RAN 120 to one or more access terminals, and as suchcorrespond to the transport layer. As used herein, a “transport” layermessage may correspond to a network-based transport layer (e.g., TCP orSTCP), or alternatively may correspond to a transport layer between theRAN 120 and the AT (e.g., in EV-DO, this may correspond to StorageBlob*messages, DOS messages, etc.).

However, in an embodiment of 910 of FIG. 9, the RAN 120 can modify atransport layer message (e.g., a StorageBlob* message, a DOS message,etc.) at an application layer to convey information to one or moreaccess terminals, and the use the application-layer modified transportmessage as the configured page message in 910. For example, a DOSmessage including the page message can be generated as a transport layermessage, and the RAN 120 can modify the DOS message at the applicationlayer by addressing the DOS message to a MATI or broadcast accessterminal identifier (BATI) instead of a UATI, such that the modified DOSmessage corresponds to an application-layer modified transport message.The DOS message will then be decoded by all ATs (e.g., in case of BATI),or by a group designated by the MATI. Likewise, a StorageBlob* messageconfigured to indicate the less than all control channel capsules canalso be considered an application-layer modified transport message.Thus, a lower-layer message (e.g., at the transport layer) can be usedto transfer a higher-layer (e.g., application layer) datagram. Whiledescribed in FIG. 9 with respect to paging messages, it will beappreciated that other embodiments can configure other types of messagesas transport layer messages that are modified from the applicationlayer. For example, the DOS message may be configured to include anannounce message in other embodiments, as described within theabove-incorporated co-pending patent application Ser. No. 12/242,444.

In a further example, when a VoIP call is placed, assume that ahigher-layer (e.g., application layer) message (using the SIP protocol)provides the identity of the caller. When the higher-layer message needsto be delivered to the target AT, the higher-layer message may not becapable of being sent as a DOS message because its associated messagesize may be too large. Rather, the RAN 120 can page the mobile and setup a TCH and then deliver the message. As the higher-layer message islarge (e.g., 1000 bytes) the paging delay may be up to 1.28 seconds in1×Rel. 0, the TCH setup may be 1.8 seconds and the message delivery timewill be in the order of another second.

In an embodiment of the invention, however, the caller's identity fieldcan be extracted by the RAN 120 and placed within a StorageBlob* or DOSmessage (e.g., a transport layer message) so that the target AT has someinformation related to the call associated with the page 2 to 3 secondsearlier. Conventionally, as noted above, the AT would decode the pagewithout knowing the identity of the sender of the application layermessage to be decoded after TCH setup. Thus, even though theapplication-layer message is too large, in this case, to be simplypackaged within the DOS message for example, some information (e.g.,caller identity) can be conveyed based on a manipulation or extractionof application-layer information and subsequent modification at thetransport layer to convey this information to the AT.

Of course, the type of application-layer information that is extractedand used for modification at the transport layer need not be limited tothe caller identity field. Accordingly, in another embodiment, thesource and destination port numbers of a TCP connection which wouldnormally be carried in the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) SYNmessage (i.e., an application-layer message) to initialize a TCPconnection could be transported in the lower layer message (e.g., atransport layer message, such as the StorageBlob* or DOS messages asdiscussed above).

After configuring the page message to page AT 1 to indicate the selectedless than all control channel capsules, the RAN 120 transmits theconfigured page message to AT 1, 915. AT 1 wakes up and decodes the CCHto detect the configured page message, 920. Next, in 925, instead ofsimply decoding each control channel capsule on the downlink CCH untilAT 1 determines it is no longer being paged, AT 1 decodes only theselected less than all control channel capsules indicated by the pagemessage, 925. As will be appreciated, this reduces the processing loadand power consumption at AT 1 because one or more unnecessary controlchannel capsules (i.e., control channel capsules that are known not toinclude packets for AT 1) need not be decoded by AT 1. Likewise, in 930,the RAN 120 transmits one or more data packets to AT 1 on at least oneof the selected less than all control channel capsules. As mentionedabove, the RAN 120 does not necessarily transmit to AT 1 on each of theselected less than all control channel capsules, because one or more ofthese control channel capsules may be selected to increase AT 1'schances of decoding one or more other control channel capsules uponwhich data is present.

Next, in 935, the RAN 120 determines whether to send more data to AT 1.If the RAN 120 determines to send more data to AT 1 in 935, the processreturns to 905 and the RAN 120 again selects less than all controlchannel capsules among another set of control channel capsules for AT 1to monitor or decode for a subsequent set period. Otherwise, if the RAN120 determines not to send more data to AT 1 in 935, the RAN 120 stopspaging AT 1, 940. As will be appreciated, AT 1 wakes up and checks thepage of 940 and detects it is no longer being paged, although AT 1 mayhave already stopped decoding control channel capsules at this pointbecause AT 1 only decodes the control channel capsules indicated by thepage message.

In an example, configuring pages to indicate particular portions of thedownlink CCH to be decoded by particular ATs or groups of ATs can bereserved for certain types of communication sessions (e.g., PTT calls)or types of ATs. Also, if each control channel capsule is scheduled bythe RAN 120 to include data for a particular AT or group of ATs at leastuntil a next CCH cycle, the RAN 120 can omit the control channel capsuleselection altogether, such that the AT or group of ATs will simplydecode each control channel capsule, as in the conventional art.

Further, while certain embodiments described above reference group‘calls’ or multicast ‘calls’, it will be appreciated that certainembodiments are directed either to group calls or direct calls, whileother embodiments are directed to group calls supported by IPmulticasting and/or IP unicasting protocols. Still other embodiments arespecific to group calls supported by IP multicasting protocols, such asembodiments that are dependent upon use of the MATI. Further, whilereference has been generally made to ‘calls’ in the above-embodiments,it will be appreciated that the embodiments are applicable to any typeof communication session, and not necessarily a ‘call’ between twoparties. For example, embodiments can be directed to a data transportsession, which is technically not a ‘call’.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signalprocessor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), afield programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection withthe embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware,in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of thetwo. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code inthe form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed bya computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative embodiments of theinvention, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the inventionas defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actionsof the method claims in accordance with the embodiments of the inventiondescribed herein need not be performed in any particular order.Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described orclaimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation tothe singular is explicitly stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of paging groups of access terminalswithin a wireless communications system, comprising: assigning one ormore paging indicator (PI) bits within a quick paging channel (QPCH) toeach access terminal in a given group, wherein one or more QPCH cyclesthat include at least one group page are configured with a given QPCHheader configuration to indicate the presence of the at least one grouppage within the QPCH cycle and one or more other QPCH cycles that do notinclude any group pages are not configured with the given QPCH headerconfiguration; receiving one or more group packets for transmission tothe given group; configuring the one or more PI bits within a given QPCHcycle of the QPCH to page the given group in response to receipt of theone or more group packets, wherein the configuring further configuresthe given QPCH cycle with the given QPCH header configuration tofacilitate decoding of the one or more PI bits within the given QPCHcycle by the given group; transmitting, prior to transmission of thegiven QPCH cycle, a notification to at least one access terminal in thegiven group of the given QPCH header configuration; and transmitting thegiven QPCH cycle to the given group.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe given QPCH cycle corresponds to one of a QPCH message in EV-DORevision A, a Quick Page message transmitted as part of the QuickSynchronous Control Channel Capsule in 1xEV-DO, a QuickPage message inEV-DO Revision B, a physical downlink channel called the Quick PagingChannel in 1x and a proprietary message included within a ControlChannel MAC packet on a synchronous or sub-synchronous cycle of adownlink Control Channel.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:configuring a downlink control channel to page the given group; andtransmitting the configured downlink control channel to the given group.4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: transmitting the one ormore group packets to the given group in accordance with the downlinkcontrol channel page.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the downlinkcontrol channel corresponds to one of a Forward Link Paging Channel(F-PCH) or a Forward Link-Common Control Channel (F-CCCH) in a 1xnetwork or a Control Channel in a 1xEV-DO Rel. 0, Revision A or RevisionB network.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the transmitted QPCH cycleindicates a potential page of the given group and the configureddownlink control channel indicates an actual page of the given group. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the given QPCH cycle indicates apotential page to each access terminal within the given group and atleast one other access terminal that is not within the given group andshares at least one of the same one or more PI bits with the given groupon the given QPCH cycle.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:wherein the configuring configures the given QPCH cycle with the givenheader configuration to facilitate paging of the given group.
 9. Amethod of paging groups of access terminals within a wirelesscommunications system, comprising: receiving, prior to receipt of aquick paging channel (QPCH) cycle, a notification from an access networkindicating a header configuration for the QPCH cycle that indicates thepresence of a group page within the QPCH cycle; receiving the QPCH cycleat an access terminal; evaluating at least one first paging indicator(PI) bit within the QPCH cycle to determine whether a potential page ofthe access terminal for a unicast communication is present; determiningwhether the QPCH cycle indicates the presence of one or more grouppages; and evaluating at least one second PI bit within the QPCH cycleto determine whether a potential page of the access terminal for a givengroup is present based on the determining; wherein determining thepresence of one or more group pages compares the header configurationindicated by the notification with the header configuration of thereceived QPCH cycle.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:receiving, prior to receipt of the QPCH cycle, another notification fromthe access network indicating one or more PI bit positions on the QPCHcycle that are configured to indicate the potential page of the givengroup, wherein the evaluated at least one second PI bit corresponds tothe one or more PI bit positions indicated by the notification.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the access terminal determines the QPCH cycleto include at least one group page if the comparison indicates that theheader configuration indicated by the notification matches the headerconfiguration of the received QPCH cycle.
 12. The method of claim 9,further comprising: monitoring a downlink control channel to determinewhether the given group is being paged if (i) the access terminalbelongs to at least one group and (ii) the at least one second PI bitwithin the QPCH cycle indicates the potential page for the at least onegroup.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: monitoring abroadcast channel (BCH) for multicast packets associated with the givengroup if the access terminal determines that the given group is beingpaged on the downlink control channel.
 14. The method of claim 12,wherein the downlink control channel corresponds to one of a ForwardLink Paging Channel (F-PCH) or a Forward Link-Common Control Channel(F-CCCH) in a 1x network or the Control Channel in a 1xEV-DO Rel.0Revision A or Revision B network.
 15. The method of claim 9, whereinthe QPCH cycle corresponds to one of a QPCH message in EV-DO Revision A,a Quick Page message transmitted as part of the Quick SynchronousControl Channel Capsule in 1xEV-DO, a QuickPage message in EV-DOrevision B, a physical downlink channel in 1x and a proprietary messageincluded within a Control Channel MAC packet on a synchronous orsub-synchronous cycle of a downlink Control Channel.
 16. The method ofclaim 9, wherein one or more QPCH cycles on the QPCH that include atleast one group page are configured with a given QPCH headerconfiguration and one or more other QPCH cycles on the QPCH that do notinclude any group pages are not configured with the given QPCH headerconfiguration, and wherein the determining determines that the QPCHcycle indicates the presence of one or more group pages if the QPCHheader configuration of the QPCH cycle corresponds to the given QPCHheader configuration, wherein the determining determines that the QPCHcycle does not indicate the presence of one or more group pages if theQPCH header configuration of the QPCH cycle does not correspond to thegiven QPCH header configuration.
 17. An access network within a wirelesscommunications system, comprising: means for assigning one or morepaging indicator (PI) bits within a quick paging channel (QPCH) to eachaccess terminal in a given group, wherein one or more QPCH cycles thatinclude at least one group page are configured with a given QPCH headerconfiguration to indicate the presence of the at least one group pagewithin the QPCH cycle and one or more other QPCH cycles that do notinclude any group pages are not configured with the given QPCH headerconfiguration; means for receiving one or more group packets fortransmission to the given group; means for configuring the one or morePI bits within a given QPCH cycle of the QPCH to page the given group inresponse to receipt of the one or more group packets, wherein theconfiguring further configures the given QPCH cycle with the given QPCHheader configuration to facilitate decoding of the one or more PI bitswithin the given QPCH cycle by the given group; means for transmitting,prior to transmission of the given QPCH cycle, a notification to atleast one access terminal in the given group of the given QPCH headerconfiguration; and means for transmitting the QPCH cycle to the givengroup.
 18. An access terminal within a wireless communications system,comprising: means for receiving, prior to receipt of a quick pagingchannel (QPCH) cycle, a notification from an access network indicating aheader configuration for the QPCH cycle that indicates the presence of agroup page within the QPCH cycle; means for receiving the QPCH cycle;means for evaluating at least one first paging indicator (PI) bit withinthe QPCH cycle to determine whether a potential page of the accessterminal for a unicast communication is present; means for determiningwhether the QPCH cycle indicates the presence of one or more grouppages; and means for evaluating at least one second PI bit within theQPCH cycle to determine whether a potential page of the access terminalfor a given group is present based on the determination, herein themeans for determining the presence of one or more group pages comparesthe header configuration indicated by the notification with the headerconfiguration of the received QPCH cycle.
 19. An access network within awireless communications system, comprising: a processor coupled tomemory and configured to: assign one or more paging indicator (PI) bitswithin a quick paging channel (QPCH) to each access terminal in a givengroup, wherein one or more QPCH cycles that include at least one grouppage are configured with a given QPCH header configuration to indicatethe presence of the at least one group page within the QPCH cycle andone or more other QPCH cycles that do not include any group pages arenot configured with the given QPCH header configuration; receive one ormore group packets for transmission to the given group; configure theone or more PI bits within a given QPCH cycle of the QPCH to page thegiven group in response to receipt of the one or more group packets,wherein the configuring further configures the given QPCH cycle with thegiven QPCH header configuration to facilitate decoding of the one ormore PI bits within the given QPCH cycle by the given group; transmit,prior to transmission of the given QPCH cycle, a notification to atleast one access terminal in the given group of the given QPCH headerconfiguration: and transmit the QPCH cycle to the given group.
 20. Anaccess terminal within a wireless communications system, comprising: aprocessor coupled to memory and configured to: receive, prior to receiptof a quick paging channel (QPCH) cycle, a notification from an accessnetwork indicating a header configuration for the QPCH cycle thatindicates the presence of a group page within the QPCH cycle; receivethe QPCH cycle; evaluate at least one first paging indicator (PI) bitwithin the QPCH cycle to determine whether a potential page of theaccess terminal for a unicast communication is present; determinewhether the QPCH cycle indicates the presence of one or more grouppages; and evaluate at least one second PI bit within the QPCH cycle todetermine whether a potential page of the access terminal for a givengroup is present based on the determination, wherein the processor isconfigured to determine the presence of one or more group panes bycomparing the header configuration indicated by the notification withthe header configuration of the received QPCH cycle.
 21. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions, which,when executed by an access network within a wireless communicationssystem, cause the access network to perform operations, the instructionscomprising: program code to assign one or more paging indicator (PI)bits within a quick paging channel (QPCH) to each access terminal in agiven group, wherein one or more QPCH cycles that include at least onegroup page are configured with a given QPCH header configuration toindicate the presence of the at least one group page within the QPCHcycle and one or more other QPCH cycles that do not include any grouppages are not configured with the given QPCH header configuration;program code to receive one or more group packets for transmission tothe given group; program code to configure the one or more PI bitswithin a given QPCH cycle of the QPCH to page the given group inresponse to receipt of the one or more group packets, wherein theconfiguring further configures the given QPCH cycle with the given QPCHheader configuration to facilitate decoding of the one or more PI bitswithin the given QPCH cycle by the given group; program code totransmit, prior to transmission of the given QPCH cycle, a notificationto at least one access terminal in the given group of the given QPCHheader configuration; and program code to transmit the QPCH cycle to thegiven group.
 22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprisinginstructions, which, when executed by an access terminal within awireless communications system, cause the access terminal to performoperations, the instructions comprising: program code to receive, priorto receipt of a quick paging channel (QPCH) cycle, a notification froman access network indicating a header configuration for the QPCH cyclethat indicates the presence of a group page within the QPCH cycle;program code to receive the QPCH cycle; program code to evaluate atleast one first paging indicator (PI) bit within the QPCH cycle todetermine whether a potential page of the access terminal for a unicastcommunication is present; program code to determine whether the QPCHcycle indicates the presence of one or more group pages; and programcode to evaluate at least one second PI bit within the QPCH cycle todetermine whether a potential page of the access terminal for a givengroup is present based on the determination, wherein the program code todetermine the presence of one or more group pages compares the headerconfiguration indicated by the notification with the headerconfiguration of the received QPCH cycle.